Where does “desirous” come from?
Desirous comes from Old French desirrous, formed from Old French desire combined with the Old French suffix -ous, derived from Latin -osus and Latin de-.
desirous (English): Feeling desire; eagerly wishing; eager to obtain
Definitions
- Feeling desire; eagerly wishing; eager to obtain
Ancestry of “desirous”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old French | desirrous | desirous; envious; coveting |
| 2 | Old French | us | tradition or custom |
| 3 | Latin | ūsus | use, employment, exercise, advantage |
| 4 | Latin | ūtor | to use, make use of, employ |
| 5 | Proto-Slavic | *ǫtorъ | croze |
| 6 | Proto-Slavic | torъ | paddock, pen |
| 7 | Proto-Slavic | terti | to rub, to scrape; to polish |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | terh₁- | to rub, turn; to drill, pierce |